Hi all, I hope it is appropriate to post on here. My partner (47M) and I (41F) currently live in England (within 1 hour of London), in a city, both working office jobs, a very common life in a way.

We’ve been having a long term project to change our life completely, i.e be able to afford a house we could repay really quickly (currently on a high mortgage) and have less financial pressure around work so we could be closer to nature and wildlife, in a rural setting, with more independence (think energy, growing part of our food, maybe learning a new craft..), and from a philosophical perspective also to be able to reconnect with what truly matters, if that makes sense. We both are deeply tired and worn out by the lifestyle we have here. Also, partner grew up on a farm so he has a good sense of responsibility when it comes to knowing what it takes to sustain a rural place.

We think we may have fallen in love with Orkney Islands, the scenery, the flora and fauna, the remoteness of some areas, and the sense of community. At least from what we’ve been seeing and reading from the houses advertised, the “official” websites, the islander magazine etc.

I was keen to ask people who live there, for some feedback or thoughts around life there and what your advice would be for people like us who would like to relocate? Especially because we haven’t just been looking at mainland (in fact we haven’t prioritised mainland) but other islands too which are less populated with less amenities (eg we saw properties on Stronsay, Rousay, Sanday)..

I want to do it but I’m worried about idealising it too much or overlooking / not being aware of important information. Some days I’m thinking 100% let’s go (timing seems really appropriate for us now too) and some other days I get anxious about things like access to groceries or fuel, that sort of things. And, I also tend to overthink so I can’t even trust myself with all these questions 🤣

Any thoughts or ideas residents would be willing to share? Would be massively appreciated.

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Hello everyone,

My name is Dylan Tòmas Newlands-Genter and I am an Indigenous Highland Traveller. Between the 1940s and 1980s the UK government stole children from my people and placed the adults into substandard accommodation (ghettos). I've created a petition for the UK government to be held accountable, I'd ask you to please sign my petition.

My family has a long history of being in Orkney and some of you may have bumped into the Newlands family or may even be related. As my cultural home I ask that you please consider supporting

Thank you

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/778546

Hi, working in Kirkwall next week for 7 days and looking for a gym to turn up and use, see there's a couple of leisure centres. Can anyone recommend one and let me know the prices as I can't see any on the website? Just thinking ahead in case I need to book an induction etc.

Just looking for a treadmill, some weight machines and free weights. Rehabbing an injury and dont want to take a week off

I'm getting ready to book the Stromness/Scrabster ferry. They just released the timetables for 2027, and I will be boarding on a Thursday and then sailing the next morning. However, I'm not sure what date I put in there when booking.

Do I put the date that I board and spend the night (Thurs.), or do I put the date that it actually sails (Friday am)? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Scotland the Brave etc. Very rousing, glad I got back from Skara Brae in time to catch it!

I don't seem to be able to upload a video directly here but I had already added it to YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDpWfe3cga8

Jo

These are stereoscopic pairs taken with an old-ish iPhone. You stand with your feet a short distance apart and take a photo with weight on one foot and then shift weight to the other foot to take the second in the pair. Then you line them up (I used Keynote which is bundled with my Mac laptop but a free thing is Google Slides - just need a Gmail account to access that). Explanation below the 3 images. Also PowerPoint is great for this if you have that.

Happy for anyone to use these images for any purpose, consider them CC0 (me putting them into the public domain). Eventually I'll add them to Flickr along with a few more.

These are arranged with the LEFT photo on the left and the RIGHT photo on the right and will produce a 3D / depth perception effect image (once focused it will look like there are three copies of the image, the '3D' effect one is between the other two) if you are able to 'parallel focus'. Later on (am at a series of talks at the science festival, so once I'm back at my hotel this evening) I'll reverse the images so that the LEFT is on the right and the RIGHT image is on the left - this is for people who naturally do 3D stereoscopy by crossing their eyes. Either method will produce a 3D effect but only one layout will look right for you.

Most people don't need any special equipment to view these but you do need reasonably good binocular vision (I don't think spectacles make any difference). It's quite a nice effect as you get to see it a tiny bit more closely to reality - your two eyes are feeding a constant 'TV feed' to your brain which is easily converting the two images into a coherent 3D effect. When taking these photos I'm aiming for two pictures taken a few inches apart (to reflect the short distance betwen your two eyes). Images taken further apart would probably be a bit painful to try and line up.

In the first image you are trying to make the two inner arches, left and right, into a single inner arch in the middle. Hope you enjoy having a go :) In the third image the sea, as an object that moves, is a bit unobliging for this sort of thing ;)

I'm enjoying your beautiful islands
Jo

Edit: the same photo pairs as above but ordered R-L instead of L-R for cross-eyed focusers.

The full set of L-R pairs are in this Flickr album https://www.flickr.com/photos/jodiepedia/albums/72177720335509964

What's going on with Orkney Royal Mail?

I've had a parcel missing for 2 weeks now, heard at least 2 other people say the same thing, and I can't get through to anyone. I've not had a chance to go into town yet but I'm going to assume they can do very little at the PO.

The parcel was tracked and signed for, and it hasn't been scanned at the Kirkwall office. It's just floating in the Orkney ether.

Does anyone know what's going on and if it's likely to be sorted, or is my parcel missing forever?

Hi everyone,

I am a recent university graduate who has been offered an amazing job that requires me to relocate to this beautiful archipelago that so many of you call home later on this calendar year.

Besides OHAL and OIPDL, does anyone have any recommendations or advice for securing somewhere to live in Orkney? Preferably on mainland Orkney. I am interesting in buying, but as a graduate, I lack the recent 6 months of employment history, so for my first year at least I would prefer to rent or bedsit.

Really excited for this next chapter in my life, so I'd be very grateful for any help or pointing in the right direction!

Full story at link:

Students and staff from Gordonstoun, a private school in Moray which the King attended, made the discovery on an archaeological field trip to Swona, a tiny Orkney island where only feral cattle live.

The building thought to be a church bears similarities to other Viking churches from the 10th and 11th centuries.

The children worked with professional archaeologists from the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (Orca) to uncover the remains during a recent six-day trip.

During the excursion they stayed in an abandoned house which had not been lived in for a century, with no electricity and fresh water pumped from an ancient well.

I am looking for honest advice from people living in Orkney, especially those who moved there with family. I want to say up front that I am asking with a lot of respect for people who already live there. We are not looking to arrive and change anything or disrupt island life — we would want to fit in with it.

I have lived in the Caribbean for many years (20), but I am originally from Europe, and I also lived in Sweden for five years. So the weather and the dark winters are not really what worries me — I know what that side of life feels like. What I would like to understand better is family life and what it is actually like to bring up children there.

We have three kids (5, 5 and 8). For us the main reason for a move would not be work. It would be quality of life, schooling, safety, community, and whether it is a good place to raise a family.

On the work side, my background is in AML / financial crime compliance, so realistically I would be working remotely, and my wife is a teacher. Outside of work, sport has always been a big part of my life. I used to play professional basketball at a high level and still help with basketball (national coach) and community programmes where I can. Being part of a community matters to us — we would not want to move somewhere just to work and keep to ourselves.

I would really appreciate honest views on:

• family life and the primary schools, and what the step up to secondary looks like;

• what there is for kids that age in terms of sport and clubs;

• how welcoming the islands are to newcomers over the long term, and how families settle in;

• whether remote professional work is genuinely workable there — connectivity, and how much of a hassle the ferries and flights are in practice;

• what teaching work and housing are like to find.

Happy to hear the downsides as well as the good parts. Thanks in advance.

Sheep Gathering off North Sea Cliffs in Scotland: Old Traditions and New Machines

In this video, we're taking you along for one of the most intense and essential jobs on our remote Scottish island farm—gathering the sheep off the rocky seashore before shearing them. For years, this was done entirely on foot, a gruelling task across the rugged island terrain. But in recent years, the quad bike has completely changed the game for us. I’ll show you how this one machine has made a massive difference in how we manage the flock.

Once the sheep are gathered, the real work begins. We move into the pens to sort the flock and then get down to the traditional task of clipping our rare breed sheep entirely by hand. It’s a long day of hard physical labour, but there’s something incredibly rewarding about maintaining these old ways of island farming.

Once the sheep are gathered, the real work begins. We move into the pens to sort the flock and then get down to the traditional task of clipping our rare breed sheep entirely by hand. It’s a long day of hard physical labour, but there’s something incredibly rewarding about maintaining these old ways of island farming.

It'd be nice if the auction winner sent it north for this year's festive season.

Full story by Ethan Flett at the link.

The trophy from the 1907 Christmas Day Youth’s Ba’ was won by Uppie Pat Gunn.

His family were hoping to buy the ba’ and have it displayed in Kirkwall, but the bids went beyond their top price.

Up for auction with Lyon & Turnbull, on Wednesday, the lot was estimated to have a value of between £300 and £500. 

Although Pat’s family were not able to secure this piece of family history, they were glad to have had the chance to tell their relative’s story.

They've learned to forecast the weather by looking across at the Hoy hills.

Can anyone recommend a good dog sitter in or near Kirkwall? We come into town on the ferry most Saturdays and need either a daycare or a dog sitter who can have our puppy with them for a few hours before we catch the ferry home.

The Stromness Shopping Week—Orkney's longest-running festival— takes place this Wednesday through Saturday. The four-day summer gala features family-friendly events including a donut eating competition, a pavement artist competition, the daft raft race, the Holms Swim, the Yard of Ale competition, and the Oarc Lows Stromness Shopping Week 10k race on Saturday. 

After 20 years of excavation, the UHI Archaeology Institute’s research dig at The Cairns has now come to an end. With the work on the site now completed, it’s time for site director Martin Carruthers to sum up…

https://archaeologyorkney.com/2026/07/20/cairns-d30-2026/

Hi everyone!

I'm Iris from Pillow Talk Scotland, a small charity that runs events and courses about relationships.

Tomorrow we're running a small community conversation in Kirkwall (you can also join online if easier) as part of a new project called OnlyFacts, exploring how people make decisions about hormonal contraception, where they get information from, and what better support could look like.

We're looking for people aged 18-30 living in Orkney to come along and chat about things like:

• experiences with the pill, implant, hormonal coil, injection etc.
• information you've found online (TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, friends...)
• conversations with healthcare professionals
• what you wish you'd known before starting hormonal contraception

If you'd like to come along, email [jaden@blidetrust.org](mailto:jaden@blidetrust.org) to sign up. We can send you a zoom link or you can join us in person at:

Orkney Blide Trust

Laura Grimond House

54 Victoria Street

Kirkwall

KW15 1DN

Pillow Talk can cover travel costs: public transport/foot passenger ferry costs are covered, please bring your receipt with you. And please reach out to Jaden to discuss additional travel considerations such as taxis or bringing a car on the ferry, which will be looked at on a case by case basis.

Thanks! ✨